Fracturing is a well stimulation technique designed to increase the productivity of a well, such as a hydrocarbon oil or gas well, by creating highly conductive fractures or channels in the producing geologic formation around the well. One approach is hydraulic fracturing, a process that involves injecting a fluid at a high rate and high pressure to rupture the formation and create cracks in the rock and pumping into these cracks a fluid containing a particulate material (propping agent or proppant) to maintain the cracks or fractures open by resisting the forces which tend to close the fractures. Thus, the function of the propping agent is to provide high permeability in the propped fracture. Hydraulic fracturing has been used with increasing frequency to improve the productivity of gas and oil wells in low permeability reservoirs. Another approach for forming and propping highly conductive fractures utilizes an etching solution such as the acid etching process.
Although there are a number of proppants known in the art, there is a continuing desire for additional proppant constructions.